Marie Bosse - The french witch
by AwkwardDrae
Summary: Marie Bosse needs to get away from France. The Dark Lord's ideals are becoming more influential in the french magical community, and even if it breaks her heart she can't stay in her homeland, not when his followers wait for her family's support. So the girl has to go to a place that, according to her parents, is the most secure in the world, Hogwarts.
1. The one with discussions over breakfast

My first fanfiction in english so I'm sorry for any mistakes. A warning: In this fanfic, the firstborn of a magical family (purebred or half-blood) has a greater control over the magic of the family, that is, the magic in the house and that is in the blood of the family. This skill is technically important only when the current head of the family dies, for then the firstborn becomes the one who best controls the magic, if the firstborn is female, the greater control ends when either she marries into another family, dies or the first male heir marries, since he becomes the head of the family and gains more control over the magic.

Full summary: Marie Bosse needs to get away from France. The Dark Lord's ideals are becoming more influential in the french magical community, and even if it breaks her heart she can't stay in her homeland, not when his followers wait for her family's support. So the girl has to go to a place that, according to her parents, is the most secure in the world, Hogwarts. Marie didn't expect her time at Hogwarts to be good, her parents didn't give her a lot of information about the school and all the stories she had heard about the place weren't informative, add to that the fact that Harry Potter is in her year, something that to her shows that safe is the last thing she will be, but she didn't expected that she could be surprise and that her opinion about the school (and it's students) could change so much.

The sound of birds and the gentle rays of sun woke her up earlier than she had planned. The light shining through the window hit her closed eyes, her eyelids covering most of the clarity while making the world a scarlet ocean, different shades of red popped up in sight, her sleepy mind trying to understand why suddenly the blackness had given space to another color.

Unwillingly, she opened her eyes and looked at the culprit of this disturbance, her light blue curtains were open, probably the work of one of the house-elves, the morning sun happily shining during the most likely beautiful summer day didn't have any problem to flood the room in a spectacle of multicolored lights forming a giant rainbow over her room.

It was a marvelous view, the light wooden Alder closet doors, vanity and chair now seemed to be made of various colors. The walls, covered in pearly wallpaper with golden accents were a copy of Bifrost, giving the room a fantasy feel.

Even so, she didn't want to wake up, not yet. She had spent almost 7 days awake, too stressed to rest, and too tired to really do anything productive, drinking Wideye potions to stay awake, her mind in an endless loop, repeating what her parents had told her the moment she stepped into their home after coming back from school, trying to understand the meaning of it and link it to all the strange letters through the school year, the we-are-so-perfect smiles that now seemed obviously fake to everyone, the glances over the shoulders on the way out of the picking-up point and the hurried route to get to safety, get home, with much more wards and runes guarding it than she could ever remember.

After 7 days, 14 potions and almost falling off one of the many stairs at home, she had finally been too tired to stay that way and the elves, not wanting to be punished for anything that might happen to her in her sleepless state, were more than happy to get a dreamless potion from the potions cabinet. That was why, even though the view was breathtaking and the smells that lingered on the place were a mixture of fresh baguettes, croissants, Iris and all the other flowers on the garden, her favorites, she didn't have the energy to move.

A loud pop made her heart jump and then beat like crazy, her eyes, that were starting to close opened fast, her right hand instinctively found her wand on the magical holder in her biceps, where it had been in all moments excluding when she was showering since she arrived home. She moved to a sitting position as fast as she could, the years of dueling lessons making her movements automatic while her eyes and brain looked for the source of the sound and the possible danger. Standing maybe 10 feet away from her canopy bed was Mabrey, the elf was visibly startled, looking at her with bright big brown eyes and clenching his hands. She let go of the breath she didn't notice she was holding and put the wand back on the holder, waiting for an explanation as to why he had come.

\- Mabrey came to give a message to Mademoiselle Bosse. Monsieur Bosse and Madame Bosse await for you in the first dining room in ten minutes, they will not tolerate tardiness and expect you to be well dressed for this gathering. - The elf said all the words slowly, careful to enunciate every one right and clear, his eyes looking anywhere but hers, lowered to the level of her chin.

Even with all the "correct way of speaking" her mother had forced all the house-elves to have and all the punishments for any wrong wording or conjugation they couldn't speak as fast as wizards and Marie was sure they never would, not when their mother language was not the same as their masters.(*)

\- Tell mother that I will be there in time Mabrey. - She wanted to be nicer to the elves, but when she last tried they were utterly astonished and begged her to not talk like that to them, too afraid of her mother and what she could do to them if her daughter acted as if they were worth her time.

The elf bowed his head and vanished with another pop. Marie got out of bed, throwing at it the blankets she used knowing that by the time she came out of the shower they would be perfectly placed as always.

She went to her window, opening it so the perfumed air could get inside, the view of the garden with its beautiful flowers cheered her a little, giving her some energy to get through the morning. Her bathroom door was right beside her vanity, when it was opened she was greeted by her reflection that showed dark circles under her eyes, her fair skin had more of a gray color after many restless nights. She took off her clothes and left them folded on the ground, the holder placed on top, going straight to the shower. The cold tiles on her bare feet sent shivers up her body and when she finally turned on the water she was feeling chilled. The hot water made steam rose up all around her, she finished fast not wanting to waste time washing her long hair. The fluffy tower was wrapped around her figure, and she exited the room.

Her next stop was her closet, it was fairly big, one of those walk in closets, full of dividers for her many clothes and accessories. She went over to her muggle dresses, even though her mother preferred dress robes, she was not against muggle clothing, especially if they were figure flattering. She chose a gray one, below her knees and embroidered on brown, paired with light pink shoes. Her jewelry consisted of a golden necklace with a small sapphire fox and her earrings were sapphires in teardrop shape, her jade ring was an heirloom, giving her the title of heir of an old wizard family. She did a quick makeup and let her hair fall naturally to its slight curls.(*)

Getting the holder with her wand from the bathroom and fastening it around her biceps again where it became invisible as always, she opened the door and made her way to the dining room. The corridors were bright due to the glass windows and the aquamarine walls were adorned with paintings from landscapes to portraits of generations upon generations of Bosse. She greeted them by name, hours and hours studying her genealogy paid off, she knew their history by heart, as well as the history of other wizard families. After going down two sets of stairs she walked through another corridor until she came upon a set of mahogany doors and before she could touch them, they were opened from inside.

A large table stood in front of her, made from the same wood of the doors, the walls on this room didn't have any frames nor windows, it was lit by silver candle holders. At the head chair her father was sited, he was dressed in black dress robes, holding Le monde sorcier(*), his breakfast untouched. Her mother was at his right side, her blue dress robes standing out in comparison with her husband's, she held a book about politics, one of the many in the house. Her hair and makeup were perfect as always and her untouched plate held only some fruits.

Moving her eyes to her father's left side she smiled a little, her twin brother seemed as cheerful as always, his smile was bright and unlike her parents he looked relaxed, his light orange dress shirt and dark jeans a contrast with his fair skin. She went to the chair on his side, the elves in the room closed the door and pulled the chair for her. Sitting quietly she started to choose her breakfast, a whispered good morning to her brother and his response were the only sounds in the room for some moments.

Her mother put down her book, giving it to one of the elves to put away, she then looked at her children, her piercing blue eyes were as hard as steel and Marie felt as if she could see everything that the girl was thinking even if she was not a legilimens.

\- Marie, have you finally stopped the foolishness of drinking those potions to stay awake? - Her mother asked after looking at her for a long silent minute.

\- Yes mother, I am sorry for worrying you. - Marie's reply was all but practiced after years being on the receiving end of her mother's reprimands.

\- Good, did you think about what someone could say during the Delacour ball later this week if you showed up with those bags under your eyes and that grayish complexion? Only Merlin knows that the Deshayes would love to add an illness to their list of gossips about us. - Her tone was acid when she talked about the Deshayes.

\- Mother, I am sure that everything will be alright, the ball is going to be marvelous. - Louis, Marie's brother said.

\- It is going to be more than good, it is going to be splendid. Gabrielle is turning ten at the end of the month and Fleur seventeen in three months, during the school year. It is time for a reunion with Aristide and Apolline about a marriage between you and Fleur. - Chevalier, Bosse family's patriarch was not a man of many words, but whenever he spoke everyone was silent to listen.

\- Marriage? But father surely Fleur already has someone waiting for her hand? And our age difference? I've only turned fourteen, she would have to wait three years before the marriage and… - Her brother was not expecting that, Marie wished she could say the same but it had always been obvious to her that her father wanted a marriage between the two families.

\- Nonsense. Your age difference don't matter, and I am sure that Aristide will be pleased with the union, we are after all the owners of the best apothecary in all magical France. - Chevalier seemed happy with the plan he had come up with. Aileas still looked at her children sternly as if they too should be happy with the plan.

\- Father, I already told you that I will not marry a witch… - Louis tried to say again but Chevalier stopped him, his tone suddenly sharp.

\- You are the heir of this family, it is your job to marry a respectable witch and have children that will carry our name. You won't come up with excuses for this. I won't have a queer heir! - Their father never raised his voice, but it still felt like he did when he said the last sentence.

\- I think I heard wrong, but it seems that you are under the impression that Louis is the sole heir of this family. I am the one that holds the heir ring, not him. I am the oldest, it is to me that the magic in this home will respond when you are gone, not him, at least not until he gets married and become the head. He may be the son of this family, but that doesn't make him the only heir.(*) - Marie knew she shouldn't have said that, it was never good to remind her father that she was the oldest of the twins.

When Aileas became pregnant, Chevalier was sure that he was getting the heir he always wanted, even when they discovered she was expecting twins he didn't care to learn the babies genders, but when they were born, a girl came first and all her father's plans for they lives were shattered. Even though he still had a heir, the magic in the family wasn't going to respond to the boy the same way it would for the girl, at least not until the girl was married to another family and the boy had his own marriage, years of planning went downhill in a second. Because to Chevalier Bosse, the firstborn in a family should be the male heir, as he would be the one considered by both norm and magic as next in line.

But Marie couldn't stay silent. Her father loved to act as if she wasn't the oldest or wouldn't be an heir for too long, after years treating her like nothing, pushing her to the shadows, taking only her brother to dinners and dances and ministerial galas he had finally come to the realization that to get really rid of her and make her brother the "perfect" heir he had to make her marry into another family as fast as he could. So for the last year and a half, he had been trying to secure a marriage contract for her, taking her to all the balls, dances and festivities he could as to present her to possible suitors. So the moment she turned 16, when she became old enough to marry but not legally an adult, so she couldn't choose to not get married, she would be out of his life.

If that wasn't enough to make her mad, there was her parents reaction to her brother coming out and their actions after that. She had always known that her brother was gay, but when he had come out to their parents before the school year began, they took it as a surprise, and since then were trying to change that "wrongness" in him, as they liked to say. Talking about courtship and marriage with girls. It didn't matter that not being straight was normal in the magical world and even in the muggle world it was starting to get accepted, it didn't matter that magical same sex couples could have children, blood related children, using a potion, spells and other things, it didn't matter that even without all of this his happiness should be more important than anything. To her parents it was shameful that their son was not straight, it was a sin and something they had to change.

\- Do not talk to me like that girl. Louis is the one that will carry this family name, you are only here because I couldn't get rid of you yet. The moment you marry into another family, you will never set foot in this house again, you will be dead to us. - Marie never met anyone else that could sound so cold and heartless when talking about their own children.

\- Don't talk like that Marie, your father is only thinking about what is best for this family, and a marriage between the Delacours and our family would be good. Your brother should be happy about it, the Delacours are lovely and Fleur is your friend Louis, I don't see why you shouldn't be agreeable with this union. But this is a subject for another time. We need to discuss the upcoming ball. The minister will be there, as well as other influential families, you need to be on your best behavior. You know I will be running for a position on the ministry and you father expects to get new contracts for potion ingredients as well as maybe a marriage offer for you, Marie. - Her tone was light as if she didn't just brushed off all the hurtful things her husband had just said to their daughter. Aileas drank a bit of her tea before speaking again, both her children's attention on her. - Your clothes for the event were already chosen and will be ready on the evening of that day. Do not embarrass us.

\- Of course mother, we would never do that. - Louis voice was low and almost too quiet to be heard, all that Marie wanted to do at that moment was to hug him or maybe punch their father, she wasn't really sure. - If you excuse us, we should get ready for our lessons today.

\- Wait, that's not all that we have to talk about. - Marie knew that her brother wanted to get as far away as possible now, but she felt that today was the day her parents would answer her questions, even if she had just angered their father. For the past seven days they danced around the subject every time she brought it up, but now, maybe they would actually tell everything. - What did you mean that next school year we are going to Hogwarts? And that the reason for that is that you fear that someone will try to kill us if we stay here? Who would do that and why? Why just now? What aren't you telling us?

\- I don't think you need to know. - Chevalier said, his voice stern. - But your mother seems to think that if you know more about our reason you will understand and agree with us. Even if it doesn't matter if you agree or not, we decided to tell you more.

\- As we said when you got back from Beauxbatons, next school year both of you are going to study at Hogwarts, headmaster Dumbledore has agreed to let you start your fourth year with the other students. We think it is best if you stay near Dumbledore because rumor has it that there's a group of people that are planning to bring the Dark Lord back and it would make sense that this group wishes for your father, as the owner of the best apothecary in France and someone with a lot of contacts, to help them. As we don't agree with them and your father won't help them, we fear that they will try to hurt you as a way to make us cooperate. And if you are close to Dumbledore we believe that you will be safer, as he is a powerful wizard and even the Dark Lord feared him.

\- You are saying that because of a rumor you will send us to another country and school? - Louis asked, he clearly didn't believe those rumors could be true. Marie herself was skeptical, but she believed that it wasn't the only motive her parents had to send them away, to give that much freedom to them, to let their grasp on their lives to lessen.

\- It's not just the rumors, we were contacted by some of those people throughout the past year and there's been some activity surrounding prisoners participants of this group. - Aileas said calmly.

\- Death Eaters. You can call them by the name they adopted, mother. What you are saying is that Death Eaters, the Dark Lord's followers, contacted you, they want to recruit you and you are sending us away because of it. - Marie was certain that there was more to it then what they were told, but it was enough for now. They knew it wasn't safe for them if death eaters were after their father's help. She could discover what they were keeping a secret later. - Thank you for telling us, of course we understand why you are doing this. If you excuse us, it really is time for us to get ready for our lessons.

Marie got up while she spoke, she looked over to her brother to see that he was doing the same. The elves opened the doors for them and the room was silent during their walk to the threshold. When they got there, their father spoke again.

\- You will be escorted to all places outside the house, at all times. We may be safe for now while they believe we are thinking about their request, but we won't be reckless. This is non-negotiable. - When the twins looked over to him, he was once again looking through the newspaper.

\- Of course father. Have a good day. - Louis was the one to answer him, his tone once again light. He took Marie's hand in his and together both made their way to their rooms' floor.

 **(*)** It never made much sense to me that House-elves, at least the ones we've seen in the canon, were not as well-versed in English as for example the Goblins seems to be, so it only made sense, to me at least, that they probably have their own language, that they use to communicate between themselves, either when working around their master's/owner's house, talking among themselves or when they don't want Wizards to understand them (although which bound House-elf would ever say something their owner couldn't/shouldn't understand in the presence of said owner is to anyone's guess). As it stands, in this fanfiction, House-elves will have their own language and culture, although as of now I have not develop anything in either front, it's an idea that sits in the back of my mind.

 **(*)** This whole chapter has a lot of hidden meanings behind everyone's clothing/color choices, as well as accessorizing. I personally love when authors leave these small clues in their writing that let the readers know more about a character's personality in a subtle way. I cannot promise every single fashion choice will be a clue to ones personality, feelings or anything, but I will try now and then to do something like this. I won't get into details about what each thing in this chapter signifies, unless of course, y'all want me to, if so, please let me know in the comments and I will explain! I should add here too, everyone's name has also a deeper meaning! Can y'all guess what the parents and the kids names here mean?

 **(*)** Le monde sorcier or The Wizarding World is my take on a French version of The Daily Prophet, it is not canon, and I have not seen any mention of any newsletter outside of the ones in England so I created my own.

 **(*)** In the universe of this fanfiction, the first-born of a family is the one considered by magic itself as the heir. They will have a better connection with the magic of the family/house. Should their sire die before they become of age, the heir will be the one to whom the magic in the house (the wards and runes, house-elves and whatnot) will respond to. In this universe magic does not differentiate between male of female, although it is the male that will carry out the family's name, if he is not the first-born the actual power will be the one that was born first, if that is a female, than the power won't pass to her brother until she either marries into another family or dies.

(Edited: 02/06/2020)


	2. The one with politics lessons

Their walk to their room's floor was slow and silent. Marie was thinking about what her parents had explained to them and what they could possible be keeping a secret, she knew a lot about the First Wizarding War, but she didn't know anything about what her parents were doing during that time. They always made it seem that the war didn't affect France and that even though it was worrisome, they lived their lives normally. But now Marie wasn't so sure. Why would a group of Death Eaters be after her father's help if he didn't have anything to do with the first war? There were a lot of good apothecaries in magical Britain, the Malfoy's were owners of one of them, and even if Marie couldn't think that aunt Narcissa would want to have anything to do with that group, uncle Lucius was not really against blood supremacy, even if, in Marie's opinion, the dark lord's views were a little bit too much even for him.

So the question remained, what her parents did during the first war that caught the Dark Lord's men's interest? Did they help the light side? The dark side? Or was it just something the death eaters thought now as a way to try and bring their master back? Work outside of Britain as to not bring attention to themselves? Her parents were not purists, at least, they didn't really act as such. They treated everyone, pure-blood, half-blood or muggle-born normally, or as normally as any neutral pure-blood family would, as if they were beneath them, not because of blood but because of tradition and money. And she didn't think they would be fools to help in a war that was not in their country, when they could be targeted or killed. If it was about the Global Wizarding War she would have understood, siding with other countries during that war was common, Grindelwald attacked all the European countries, but it had been before the Dark Lord's reign. She was missing something and it annoyed her to no end.

She was abruptly taken back to reality when Louis, that stayed strangely quiet during their walk, gave her hand a squeeze and then moved away to open his room's door. Just like all the other doors in the house that were in public areas, this one was made of mahogany. The only thing different about it was a discreet golden L engraved on the wood. He opened the door as dramatically as possible and then, not even looking over his shoulders, jumped face first on his bed, making a sound that was a mixture of a growl and a sigh. Marie closed the door behind her, she was worried about him, usually after their parents lectures about his sexuality he would be moody and sad for a while, but this was a bit too much. Louis was not the dramatic one of the twins, that was her role. He was sentimental, sometimes a little over the board, but not dramatic, it was uncommon to see him so upset.

\- Lou, you know you can't take what they say serious, we have The Plan remember? - Marie said as she laid by his side.

The Plan or as Louis called it The Super Ultra Mega Secret Plan for the Armageddon was something they created before starting Beauxbatons, when they were around 7 years old, as a way to survive and stay happy in a house with a hypocritical father and a distant mother. It consisted in a list of places both of them could go to if their parents tried to force them into something (like an arranged marriage), as well as people (and house-elves) they could count on, their Gringotts account information (goblins are scary and difficult to deal with in a 7 years old mind, and in a 14 years old too, but Marie would never say it out loud) and some other useful information, like how to get tickets for the transatlantic wizarding boats (only for emergencies, of course). The Plan was something that made life bearable, especially when their father started the whole "marrying the girl as fast as possible" crusade. It was silly and innocent but it was still a plan. Over the years they had aprimorated it, adding more things and ruling out others, it wasn't much but it was sound. If a time came when they were being forced to do something, they had an escape.

Bringing up The Plan always cheered Louis, he was really proud of their idea and so sure that it would work. In the beginning it was all about getting Marie away from a marriage she didn't want, but over the years, as Louis discovered more about himself and his sexuality, it became something for him too, if he was ever forced into something because he was gay, they would flee. In a heartbeat Louis entire demeanor changed, he tossed around like a fish until he was facing the ceiling (hitting Marie twice with his arms, once in the stomach and once in the face) and looked at her with the biggest smile he could muster. His eyes shone like emeralds with happiness but Marie saw a twinkle of mischievousness in them.

\- You're an ass! You weren't sad at all! I was worried about you! - Marie reached for the closest pillow and hit her brother with it when she found it.

Louis laughed trying to stop her, not really doing a good job but still trying. When he grabbed the pillow from her hand he tossed it to their feet.

\- Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry, too much. - The last part was said almost too low to be heard. - I was sad when he said all those things, but when you jumped in to protect me, as the brave knight you are sis, there was no way I could stay that way. Plus, I was thinking on our way here, if father thinks uncle Aristide won't let Fleur decide about her own marriage he is so wrong, and she will never choose to marry me. Because: one, she knows I'm gay and two, she is like our older sister, and I know she thinks the same about us. I was just messing with you with all the dramatic act. You know you are the dramatic one of us.

Marie wished she could stay angry with him but she really was worried and seeing his smile loosened a knot in her stomach she didn't notice there before. Their father's rants about marriage were increasing at an alarming rate, she knew that marriage was important to pure-blood families, but not even the most ancient ones were that desperate to get a marriage contract so soon. It was common to wait for the heirs fifteen birthday and sometimes even their sixteen. If Marie remembered correctly even the Malfoys waited until their heir was sixteen, and she knew she was right, Draco himself was always whining about the girls (and boys) that were hitting on him and how even if he was interested, something he liked to point he was not, thank you very much, he couldn't do anything about it because his family would have to send their parents a betrothal request before anything happened and: "Your purity is important! You can't just throw it away. It's something unique, to give to your partner for life! I could never give it to someone else!"(*)

Sometimes Marie wondered why people believed in such things. It was sweet and innocent in a way, but she didn't think it was true. It was just sex, not something sacred to keep and guard. Obviously she never said that to Draco, she would never try to change his mind about something so pure. She never said it to his face, but he was just so sentimental that she felt the need to protect him. Of course, that didn't prevent her to feel like punching him every time he said anything purist or duplicated his father's and grandfather's speeches. Often Marie wished Abraxas Malfoy hadn't died the year before of dragon pox so she could have some words with him(*), she knew that it was him that planted those ideas in uncle Lucius head and helped him do the same for Draco. The boy was so desperate to get his father's approval that he didn't even try to think for himself.

But she was getting sidetracked, the thing was, their father wanted to marry her fast, they knew that, she had always known that he would get to the conclusion that it was the best way to get rid of her, so it made sense to try to secure a marriage contract earlier, but what she didn't understand was his will to marry Louis soon too. However there was nothing to do about it right now and staying lost in thoughts wouldn't help.

\- You wound me, I am not dramatic! - Marie placed her hands over her heart and made the most hurt face she was capable but when her eyes met Louis' she couldn't keep the act and both started to laugh. - All right, maybe I am dramatic, but you love me exactly like this.

\- Right, right, I'm not going to feed your ego Mari. It's big enough as it is. - Louis poked her in the rib, then sat and looked for his wand. - What time is it? We really should get ready for the day, mother told me before you got to breakfast that we have double politics today, and Monsieur(*) Chantraine said he would show us some new spells.

Marie groaned and hid her face with a pillow at the mention of Monsieur Chantraine, their transfiguration professor. The man was amazing and funny, but that was her worst subject and it didn't matter how many times and different ways he used to explain the material, her transfigurations were never perfect. While that was Louis favorite class, she loved Potions.

\- Oh, and I almost forgot, Jean is coming over, he is going to help Madame Grandier with our defense lesson today. - Louis added as an afterthought, he had already climbed out of bed and was looking over his parchments on his desk.

At that, she jumped out of bed, throwing the pillow at it. Jean d'Arc was one of her favorite people in the world. He was only 21, having finished his auror training the year before, but was considered the best in his class when he graduated. Jean's family had been acquaintances with Marie's since forever and the three of them (Marie, Louis and Jean) had known each other for years. Their families friendship started in 1430, when Joana d'Arc was still alive, she became friends with Cassandra Bosse, and both families had been friends since then.

\- Come on, you can daydream about Jean later. Go to your room and get your things. - Louis moved to her side and placing both hands on her shoulders, gently pushed her in the direction of the door.

\- I'm not daydreaming about Jean! I'm just happy we get to see him. It's been a while. - Marie's face grew hot as she tried to get away from her brother's grasp. - Stop it, I'm going, you don't need to push me.

\- Right, you're not daydreaming, it's only that your crush on him is so evident that even a blind man could see it, I forgot. - He let go of her and opened the door, looking at her with shining eyes and a big smile. - Ten minutes sis, that's all you've got to get your stuff and go to the library. See you there!

Marie moved away from the door, a smile as big as her brother's on her face. She heard the door close behind her and made her way to her room down the corridor. When she got to her own door (that just like her brother's room's door, had a letter engraved in it, hers was a M) she opened it and went straight to her floor-to-ceiling window, it was made of two glass door, and both moved to give access to the balcony. She had already opened both doors when she woke up so she just walked through them and found herself in her favorite part of her room.

The balcony, like every other in the house was large and magically weatherproof, so it could be used all year round and no damage would be inflicted on any furniture. The temperature could be changed if one had a wand and it had a amazing view of the gardens. But what made it the so special for Marie was the fact that if the owner of the room wished to not be interrupted there, no one would be able to see them, not from the room nor from the gardens. It was the perfect place to read and be alone.

In her balcony she had a desk and chair, a couch, divan and a coffee table. On her desk were her schoolwork from Beauxbatons, the ones from her private tutors and some other projects that she had. She got all the things she needed from the desk and placed them on the bag that was beside it, then she took the bag back to the room and placed it on her settee, went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth, checking herself on the mirror, she then went back to the bedroom, got the bag and placed it on her shoulder and exited the room.

She got to the library with 5 minutes to spare, Louis nowhere in sight. Sighing Marie placed the bag on one of the study tables and went to the potions section. Even after years, she hadn't read half of the books there. Looking through the shelves she picked one of the books, about the effects some of the most potent potions had in the human body, a really detailed reading (with moving drawings and anagrams) that had made her sick the first time she tried to read it years ago, and took it with her back to the table.

After placing the book in her bag so she could read it later, she sat down and took everything she would need for her first two classes out of the bag and organized it on the table. Monsieur Durrell, Marie's politics professor, was really keen in organization. He believed that an organized ambient led to a successful life, and that as heirs of an important family and future owners of many business, the Bosse twins, as he referred to them, should commit to lead the most perfect and successful of lives.

Louis came sprinting into the library, his breath uneven and harsh, he looked around the room with wide eyes until they settled on Marie, who was laughing. He then took a deep breath and went to the study table beside Marie's, placing his bag on the floor alongside it and sitting. He took a minute to calm himself and arrange his things before he turned to Marie and pouted.

\- Don't laugh! I got distracted by Sir Astor's painting and almost didn't get here on time. Do you have any idea what Monsieur Durrell would do to me if I was late again? He would kill me! - He moved his hands around to emphasize the magnitude of his almost tardiness.

\- Oh, he surely wouldn't kill you, it would be too difficult to hid your body or get away with it, he would make you write an essay about the political situation going on on some forgotten country. And what were you talking about with Sir Astor? It is the third time you forget about the time while talking with him. - Marie responded while checking the time on the grandfather clock near their tables, only another minute before Monsieur Durrell arrived and the next two hours would be full of facts, simulations and what ifs of a Magicien Conseil(*) trial.

\- I would prefer death to do another essay like that, it is torture! Do you know how many hours I spent on the last one? Five! And I didn't even get a E(*) on it, he gave me an A! Monsieur Durrell could be less strict in his grading, an Acceptable is not what I should have got, I deserved an Exceptionnel on that! - Louis wasn't paying attention to the time or the door, because if he was, he would have noticed that as the clock hit 9 a.m. the doors opened and standing there was Monsieur Durrell, his wizarding robes a dark gray complimenting his gray work bag. Marie could see that he had heard Louis last comment as his eyes, behind his black squared glasses, had a slight laughing light. Not really noticeable, if one didn't know him very well, but the twins had him as a teacher for over 4 years now and although a strict person, Monsieur Durrell sometimes showed a fun side.

\- Bonjour Bosse Twins. - He said coming inside the room, the doors closed themselves silently behind him. He went to the table in front of Marie and Louis' study tables and placed his bag on it. - Well Monsieur Bosse(*), it seems like you disagree with my grading on your last paper. Then why don't you write me another paper explaining why your last one deserved an Exceptionnel? I am sure that the five hours you spent on your last paper about Nauru's 90% national unemployment rate due to the exhaustion of their phosphate mines(*) and how it could relate to other countries that over explore their natural resources will come in hand when you explain why that paper, that didn't have one citation worth mentioning may I add, should have gotten an E.

Marie had to work really hard to keep herself from laughing at her brother's face after hearing what Monsieur Durrell said. Louis was pale and looked like someone had just told him he was going to die in the next moments. He was probably thinking about all the hours he would have to spend writing that paper and about how: "It's a island in Micronesia! The only thing going on for them is that they are the third smallest country in the world. That's it! No economy, no tourism, nothing worth mentioning. They exhausted the only thing they had, their mines. Why do I have to write about them?" As he so calmly said the week prior when he had to write the first paper.

\- Monsieur Durrell… I didn't see you there. Great to see you sir. Did you get a haircut? You look exceptionally handsome today. - Louis said without a pause. He smiled nervously and his cheeks started to get a red hue on them.

\- No Monsieur Bosse, I did not get a haircut since you last saw me on Friday. Now if you are done with your ramblings, I would like to start our lesson. And I do want that paper about why you should have gotten a better grade. Although I am sure you think that Nauru's situation doesn't matter to the rest of the world, there is a reason why I made you write about it, even if it was as a punishment. Mademoiselle Bosse, would you be able to tell me why knowing about Nauru is important? - Monsieur Durrell spoke in non nonsensical voice while opening his bag and taking out his lesson plan for the day. When he was done he set it on the table and sat on the table top, facing the twins.

Marie was waiting for a question like that. Monsieur Durrell loved to ask for the reasoning behind everything, it was never only something theoretical in his class. Everything had real world meaning, consequences and motives and as outstanding citizens of the world the Bosse Twins had to comprehend and know all of them.

\- Well, - Marie said after thinking about it and organizing what she wanted to say in her head for a minute or two. - Nauru was economically stable because of its phosphate, the mining brought employment and money to the island, but instead of using the money to create something more that would bring profit they depended exclusively on the mining. With no long term planning they exhausted the mines and with no other lucrative material or idea, the world economy took their money somewhere else. Even after becoming a tax haven for some years they still didn't earn enough money to change the country's situation.

After saying that Marie took another minute to observe her professor's reaction to what she had said. The information itself was on the books Louis had used to write the paper and that Marie had read right after him, but what she just said was only what she understood from the situation. Of course there was more to it than only that, but Marie didn't know all the reasons for Nauru's situation. Monsieur Durrell's face didn't change while Marie spoke, nor did it gave away any thoughts, but he didn't seem disappointed so it was a good indication that what she said was fine and she could finish speaking her thoughts.

\- The reason why knowing about Nauru's situation is important is that a lot of other countries in the world depend heavily if not totally on their natural or finite resources. Those countries could go through what Nauru is going through. And although one or two countries having most of its population unemployed and having no income is not the worst case scenario for the world economy, if more countries go through that, there will be a bigger imbalance economically speaking and that could cause problems to other countries too. So, it would be good to observe what, how, when and why Nauru is like it is now and work towards making sure it doesn't happen again.

Marie didn't know if that was what Monsieur Durrell wanted to hear, maybe what he wanted her to talk about was how Nauru's situation was a good opportunity for countries looking for cheap labor or lower taxes, that was something business-like that Marie's father would be after. And if she was not mistaken her father had been one of the people to use Nauru as a tax haven when the twins were younger. But that was not something Marie was sure she could ever do, it didn't sit right with her.

\- Exactly, well said Mademoiselle Bosse. Although one could also say that when a country is in a situation such as the one Nauru finds itself in, those that have no qualms about using underhandedly methods will feel more compelled to do so, if you understand what I mean. - Their tutor said with a slight frown. He then took his wand and sent their graded homework as well as the outline for this day's lessons. He then casted a spell to bring a chalkboard to the front of the class and setting his wand down he got up and walked towards the board. - Well, now that we started on this topic today's lesson will be about ways to notice and deal with those underhandedly methods I just spoke about. Please open your books to page 573.

(*) The whole wizarding world is a mixture of conservative and liberal views, it sounds reasonable to me that purity, at least sexual, would be viewed as good (at least for girls) but then we have the idea that some men, like Sirius, were known for having many sexual partners (I can't remember if that was canon or not, but still). The Draco in this fanfiction will have grown up with both parents that have many conservative views, including sexual purity, and in this case it will go for both men and women.

(*) Canonically Abraxas Malfoy died of Dragon pox before 1996, it's not specified exactly when but it is in Slughorn's class that we get that information. So for now, the year of his death is 1993.

(*) There are various ideas of ways one could/should refer to someone, especially in the HP universe. I read not too long ago in "It starts with Harry's eyes" by blurredink their take on this, based on another author's idea. I really liked it and will implement a version of it in this fanfiction too, but for now know that they are referring to their private tutors, not actual school professors, and that's why they don't refer to them as such. But still use a formal language when speaking about them to show respect.

(*) Magicien Conseil, my creation for a sort of French Wizengamot.

(*) Grading Levels: English - Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Acceptable, Poor, Dreadful and Troll ; French - Exceptionnel, Dépasse les attentes, Acceptable, Piètre, Horrible and Troll. The french grading was created by me, I have not found any mention as to how other countries grade their students, so I decided to do it like this.

(*) At Hogwarts the professors call students Mister and Miss, and while these are private tutors I think it makes sense that they would refer to their students formally. Yet this is not a really formal setting that asks for the use of the titles Lord, Lady, Heir and whatnot.

(*) That's an actual thing, Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, or previously known as Pleasant Island, is a country located in Micronesia, northeast of Australia. It really has a national unemployment problem and while looking for ideas of what they could discuss in class during this chapter I came across some articles about Nauru and felt like bringing at least a little awareness to something not really known.


End file.
